House Veterans' Affairs Committee grills VA officials

From left, Dr. Thomas Lynch, the assistant deputy under secretary for health for clinical operations at the Veterans Health Administration, Joan Mooney, the assistant secretary for congressional and legislative affairs at the Department of Veterans Affairs, and Michael Huff, a congressional relations officer with the Department of Veterans Affairs, testify as the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs hears from the three witnesses about allegations of gross mismanagement and misconduct at VA hospitals possibly leading to patient deaths, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 28, 2014. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)(Photo: J. Scott Applewhite AP)

Story Highlights

Members of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs hammered three top VA leaders in a Wednesday hearing that started hostile and remained tense throughout.

The session focused on Phoenix VA Health Care System wait-time issues, the agency's lack of accountability and transparency, as well as an Inspector General's critique issued earlier in the day.

Members expressed anger and frustration, many raising their voices and cutting off VA representatives mid-answer. They repeatedly demanded records they subpoenaed over wait-time issues, which VA officials said were with their attorneys and were not available due to attorney-client privilege.

At 7 p.m. Pacific Time – two and half hours into the hearing – the committee took a brief break to begin its second round of questioning. The second round was markedly less confrontational, and many of the questions and answers had already been addressed in the first round.

Most of the members raised questions over the destruction of patient appointment records, scheduling practices at the Phoenix VA, and whether and how they can find out if similar practices occurred in their home states.

Lynch fielded the majority of questions through the first half of the hearing, describing his visit to the Phoenix VA. He said his staff made him aware of what he called "interim work products" – he denied they were "wait lists" – that Phoenix VA schedulers used to keep a list of canceled appointments. From late 2012 to mid-2013, schedulers kept these lists while they transitioned from paper records to the electronic system, Lynch said.

The intent was to track which patients' appointments were being canceled, in an effort to reschedule them in a new electronic appointment system, Lynch said. He said he believes the Phoenix VA destroyed the interim lists after rescheduling the patients, following appropriate federal procedure to get rid of documents that contain sensitive patient information and are no longer are needed.

The VA Office of Inspector General's interim report released Wednesday morning showed 1,700 veterans who are awaiting care did not appear on the electronic waiting list. Lynch said the VA plans to contact all 1,700 by phone or by mail by Friday afternoon to reschedule their appointments.

VA officials believe the 14-day requirement for scheduling appointments – which is a performance measure – has turned into a performance goal, and may have contributed to employees' scheduling processes, Lynch said. He consistently acknowledged the problem, and said it needs to be fixed.

Many committee members shared concerns about VA facilities in their home states, and asked VA officials to investigate. They stressed wait-time issues are echoed beyond Phoenix, and Lynch confirmed they are systemic issues.

"I think that's why Phoenix resonates in this country beyond the tragedy (of 40 Phoenix veterans who allegedly died waiting for care) … It seems to confirm what so many of us are hearing from every single one of our districts," said Texas Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke.

VA officials repeated they are taking allegations and the investigation seriously, and that their goal is to be collaborative with and responsive to Congress.